New law makes it tougher to take advantage of East Palo Alto tenants

By Bonnie Eslinger

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
04/02/2014 07:21:38 PM PDT

Updated:
04/03/2014 11:41:15 PM PDT

It won't be easy to push around tenants in East Palo Alto.

At least, not after the East Palo Alto City Council adopts an ordinance it approved Tuesday night that strengthens their legal rights and forces landlords to jump through more hoops if they choose to demolish apartments.

About 150 people packed the council chambers to show support for the new law, some holding signs in English and Spanish bearing messages such as "Affordable housing for all incomes." Many who addressed the council said they fear being forced out of their homes by higher rents or new developments.

The council had similar concerns in 2011, when it began pushing for a tenants right law just before Equity Residential Group bought 1,800 apartment units -- the vast majority of the city's rental stock.

The ordinance approved Tuesday on a 4-0 vote, with Mayor Laura Martinez absent, reflects those concerns, stating that the rental shortage in East Palo Alto gives an "imbalance of bargaining power" to landlords. The council has to formally adopt the ordinance May 6 for it to take effect.

A handful of last-minute changes were made to the law in response to feedback from representatives of Equity Residential and of Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto.

For example, a provision that would have allowed tenants to skip paying rent while temporarily relocated for repairs was removed. The law now states that a tenant must continue to pay the same rent but the landlord must pick up the difference between that and a higher amount up to the cost of the average rent in San Mateo County.

The ordinance also gives tenants and housing advocates the right to organize, distribute literature and use common areas in apartment buildings for meetings. It prohibits landlords from harassing tenants by stopping or threatening to stop required housing services such as utilities and maintenance. And it prohibits them from asking for documents to prove legal immigration or citizenship, or calling or threatening to call immigration authorities.

If a landlord wishes to demolish an apartment with three or more units, he or she must provide detailed plans and documents for the proposed new building to obtain the necessary city permits. An exemption would be made if a building official determines the structure poses a safety threat.

East Palo Alto has a rent-control ordinance that was approved by voters in 1998 and updated in 2010, as well as a law approved by the council in 2012 that mandates payments to tenants when a landlord converts apartments to condominiums.